True wireless earphones, in the early days of the form factor, were about getting the design and comfort right, along with tackling the obvious concerns about battery life. Now that most of those factors have been handled, the next step is improvement, and we’re seeing affordable manufacturers do this through improved drivers and codec support. The latest manufacturer to launch true wireless earphones with support for the Qualcomm aptX Bluetooth codec is Noise, with the newly launched Noise Shots XO earphones.
Priced at Rs. 5,499, the Noise Shots XO goes on sale on January 16, and is the company’s most advanced true wireless headset to date. It will be available on the company’s official website and online store gonoise.com, as well as on Amazon, Flipkart, and select offline retail stores. The design sees some changes, with a new circular charging case, and three interesting colour options – metallic white, rose gold, and space grey.
The headset comes with added features, including support for the Qualcomm aptX Bluetooth codec, IPX7 rating for water resistance, and wireless charging. The company also claims a total battery life of up to 36 hours when combining the earphones and the charging case. The case can be charged through its USB Type-C port, and the headset is Bluetooth 5.0-enabled with support for popular voice assistants.
Noise has a growing catalogue of affordable true wireless earphones already available in India, including the Noise Shots X3 and Noise Shots X-Buds. More recently, the company also launched the Noise Tune Flex neckband earphones for Rs. 2,199. The Noise Shots XO will compete directly against the Blaupunkt BTW Pro, which also comes with support for Qualcomm aptX and is priced at Rs. 6,999.